Wildflower affiliate WF Industrial 7 LLC asked the Queens Borough President's land use hearing to approve removal of three paper streets so the company can build a warehouse to “service the ecosystem of JFK,” applicant representative Eric Polatnik said at the public hearing.

The proposal would demap portions of Oak Street, Byron Street and a mapped but unbuilt “Hundred And 40 Fifth Road” and replace the surface bus parking lot with a low-rise warehouse and associated parking, Polatnik said. Polatnik described Green features including stormwater detention tanks, green roofs and bioswales and said the developer expects to work with the New York City Department of Transportation on a broader street-improvement plan.

Polatnik and Michael Bowden, a partner at Wildflower, presented the project and its context. "We're proposing to build a warehouse there," Polatnik said, adding that the site has been used as a large bus parking lot because the mapped-but-unbuilt streets have encumbered development. Bowden said the project will be designed to accommodate electric freight as that market grows: "we'll have the electric capacity to handle, electric vehicles."

Why it matters: the demapping would clear recorded-but-unbuilt street rights-of-way that currently prevent new buildings on the site and allow a development Wildflower described as intended to serve JFK-area logistics. The applicant said Wildflower has invested in nearby properties and has partnered with the New York City Economic Development Corporation on an off-site, publicly accessible electric vehicle charging station; the charging station itself is not part of the application.

Project details given at the hearing included an aerial-site plan showing the paper streets to be removed, roughly 80 on-site parking spaces, and a low-rise warehouse footprint surrounded by surface parking. The applicant estimated employment impacts as roughly 150 construction jobs, about 65 full-time permanent jobs and six part-time positions; Polatnik described those numbers as estimates based on Wildflower’s experience and the building size. The applicant said the site will include stormwater detention, green roofs and bioswales and that detention infrastructure is likely to be located under surface parking rather than beneath the building.

Polatnik said Community Board 13 reviewed the application and that he believed the board voted in favor; the applicant did not recall specific board conditions but said board members emphasized that loading operations be contained on-site and that perimeter screening and parking were discussed. Michael Bowden confirmed those points: the applicant presented plans showing on-site loading to avoid encroaching on the public right of way and described fencing and screening to meet code.

Officials said the New York City Department of Transportation will undertake additional street improvements beyond the applicant’s builders-pavement obligations. The applicant also said the Department of Sanitation had placed a temporary blockade on 150th Court that would be removed as part of the planned circulation changes.

No members of the public testified. Queens Borough President land use staff closed the item after confirming there were no speakers on Zoom or in the conference room. For the record, the hearing chair said calendar item number 2 would be tabled and considered later as part of a larger Jamaica rezoning application.

The applicant and Wildflower representatives said they remain open to continued outreach with local civic groups and noted the project remains subject to the city's land-use review process and further approvals.